Department for Transport

Aviation: International Cooperation

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full-time equivalent civil servants of his Department and the Civil Aviation Authority are working on negotiating international aviation agreements.

Mr John Hayes: The Department for Transport currently has 4 dedicated, full-time equivalent civil servants working on the negotiation of international air services agreements. Other resources across the Department, the Civil Aviation Authority and other Government Departments are involved as necessary, on an ad hoc basis.

Railways: Strikes

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many days of strike action have taken place on the railways in each of the last 10 years; and how many journeys have been affected by that action in each of those years.

Paul Maynard: The information requested by the hon. Member is not held by, or reported to, the Department.

Aviation

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research his Department has recently commissioned on likely trends in the international aviation market.

Mr John Hayes: The Department has not commissioned any such research in the last twelve months.

Department for Transport: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr John Hayes: The information requested is listed below for each year. 2016/17 ItemSpend (£) DFT (c)DVLAVCAMCADVSATablets00034,476 (1)2,204 (1)iPads0Paper2,507,882 (4) Note: MCA spend for 2016/17 is due to the implementation of the Survey & Inspection Transformation Programme part of which involves equipping our marine surveyors with more appropriate ICT tools while inspecting and surveying vessels.  2015/16 ItemSpend (£) DFT (c)DVLAVCAMCADVSATablets10,7952,655 (1)001,394 (1)iPads0Paper3,914,360 (4) 2014/15 ItemSpend (£) DFT (c)DVLAVCAMCADVSATablets06,150(1)0249 (1)410 (1)iPads442Paper4,499,740 (4)  2013/14 ItemSpend (£) DFT (c)DVLAVCAMCADVSATablets02,223 (1)02,171 (1)0iPads2,660Paper4,453,762 (4) (3)  2012/13 ItemSpend (£) DFT (c)DVLAVCAMCADVSA(5)Tablets1,166191 (1)0016,769 (1)iPads0Paper3,070,322 (4) (2) Note: The DVSA 2012/13 spend reflects the pilot to investigate the use of mobile IT for driving examiners by 31 March 2014. (1) – indicates spend combined for Tablets and iPads.(2) – The figure quoted is before the merger of DSA and VOSA to create the DVSA. It does not include any spend by DSA or VOSA.(3) – The figure quoted is before the merger of DSA and VOSA to create the DVSA. It includes spend by VOSA but no figures are available for DSA.(4) – indicates a combined spend across the Department. Spend is for both white paper used generally in the office and the paper required specifically for the DVLA’s forms etc.5) Note that DVSA did not come into existence until 2014/15 with the merger of the DSA and VOSA – the figure shown for spend on tablets and ipads relates to DSA only.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2017 to Question 64552, what discussions his Department had with the Department for Exiting the European Union on the drafting of the White Paper entitled The United Kingdom's exit from and new partnership with the European Union, Cm 9417, published in February 2017.

Andrew Jones: I refer the hon. Member to my answer on 28 February 2017, to Question UIN 64552.

Cycling

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 16 January and 9 February 2017 to Questions 58966 and 63857, if he will take steps to ensure that the planned revision of his Department's Local Transport Note LTN 2/08, Cycle Infrastructure Design, complies with the Public Sector Equality Duty by setting out design standards which progressively enable anyone to take up cycling as a safe, convenient and normal means of travel, regardless of age, gender and ability.

Andrew Jones: The Government expects highway authorities to work towards high-quality, attractive and inclusive streets that work for people of all abilities. The Department’s Local Transport Note 2/08 is a guidance document for local authorities and already encourages local authority designers to keep in mind the needs of disabled persons. The provisions of The Public Service Equality Duty are binding on those bodies in the public sector who provide any service. For that reason local authorities must be able to show that they have complied with this Duty in providing infrastructure for cyclists and our revised LTN will provide appropriate guidance for local authorities.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide financial support for the soundproofing of properties affected by noise from the High Speed 2 line.

Andrew Jones: Where noise from the construction of HS2 is likely to impact a person’s home by exceeding the relevant limits, the Government will offer to install noise insulation in the property, or pay for the costs of installing noise insulation. Noise insulation will also be offered to eligible properties that experience noise impacts above the relevant limits from the operation of HS2 services.

Driving: Licensing

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2017 to Question 63666, what discussions he has had with the Cabinet Office on the matter of adults who do not hold either a (a) UK or (b) provisional UK driving licence in respect of the trial pilot scheme on voter identification due to take place in May 2018.

Andrew Jones: No discussions have taken place between the Department for Transport and the Cabinet Office about individuals who do not hold a UK driving licence in relation to the trial pilot scheme on voter identification.

Roads: Accidents

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of road fatalities occur at road junctions.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of road accidents involving serious injury occur at road junctions.

Andrew Jones: 31 per cent of road fatalities and 47 per cent of seriously injured casualties in reported accidents in Great Britain occurred at road junctions in 2015.

Buses: Accidents

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pedestrians have been killed in accidents with buses in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pedestrians have been injured in accidents with cyclists in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pedestrians have been seriously injured in accidents with buses in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pedestrians have been killed in accidents with trucks in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pedestrians have been seriously injured in accidents with trucks in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Andrew Jones: Number of pedestrian casualties in accidents involving a i) pedal cycle, ii) bus or coach, and iii) heavy goods vehicle in reported road accidents, Great Britain: 2015 Pedestrian severityPedal cycleBus or coachHeavy goods vehicleKilled22850Seriously injured96202113Slightly injured346776270All casualties4441,006433

Buses: Accidents

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cyclists have been killed in accidents with buses in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cyclists have been injured in accidents with trucks in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cyclists have been seriously injured in accidents with buses in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cyclists have been killed in accidents with trucks in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Andrew Jones: Number of pedal cyclist casualties in two vehicle reported road accidents involving a i) bus and ii) heavy goods vehicle, Great Britain: 2015Pedal cyclist severityBus or coachHeavy goods vehicleKilled418Seriously injured4581Slightly injured228248All casualties277347 The table is based only on two vehicle accidents as it is not possible to identify which vehicle hit the pedal cyclists in accidents with more than two vehicles.

Taxis

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to publish its response to the Law Commission's 2014 recommendations on the reform of taxi and private hire vehicles legislation.

Andrew Jones: The Government are currently considering all the recommendations in the report, against the background of a rapidly changing industry. We will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce our intentions once that scrutiny is completed.

Driving: Licensing

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many reapplications to the DVLA for driving licences following medical conditions have taken more than 8 weeks to assess in each of the last two years.

Andrew Jones: The length of time taken to deal with an application depends on the medical condition and whether further information is required from medical professionals. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has made major improvements in this area, including introducing an electronic service which allows drivers to notify the DVLA online about certain medical conditions. The DVLA has recruited 100 extra casework staff as well as more doctors to deal with complex cases. Three nurses have also been employed to help deal with certain cases and further recruitment is underway. A dedicated team has been put in place which is responsible for continuous improvement of medical driver licensing services and communications. Letters to customers and medical professionals have been improved, helping to ensure that the DVLA receives the information it needs as quickly as possible. These changes have had significant and sustainable improvements. Information specifically about the time taken to assess re-applications for a driving licence following notification of a medical condition is not available. Since 1 April 2016 the DVLA has dealt with 645,841 medical cases. Of these, 72% received a licensing decision within eight weeks.

Railways: WiFi

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part 1 of the UK Digital Strategy, published on 1 March 2017, what estimate his Department has made of the data speed per (a) passenger and (b) train that will be required to meet new train operator requirements in the rail franchises.

Paul Maynard: Our priority is for passengers to experience a reliable and highly available mobile service and we will be securing this within future franchises.

Driving: Licensing

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2017 to Question 63666, on driving: licensing, what the ethnic profile is of British citizens that hold a (a) UK or (b) provisional UK driving licence.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not record information about the ethnicity of driving licence holders.

Heathrow Airport: Low Flying

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential road safety implications of aircraft flying low over and alongside the M4 motorway in the event that a third runway is built at Heathrow Airport.

Mr John Hayes: Safety and security are of paramount importance, these issues were considered by the Airports Commission and will be given due regard again at appropriate points in the process in light of established procedures and standards that apply to all airports. Flightpaths for an expanded Heathrow have not been formulated and will be subject to consultation as part of the airspace change process.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Circle Housing

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Housing of 12 January 2017, on the interaction between the ombudsman and regulator, what the (a) timeline, (b) terms of reference and (c) date of publication is for his investigation; and if he will place a copy of his findings following these investigations in the Library.

Gavin Barwell: Following the debate on 12 January 2017, my officials met with representatives from the Social Housing Regulator and the Housing Ombudsman to discuss the effectiveness of the interaction between those organisations. Both organisations recognise the importance of effective working relationships and are committed to sharing data where appropriate. I expect to be briefed on the outcome of these discussions shortly.

Department for Communities and Local Government: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Marcus Jones: On (a), my department has spent £612.48 in the last five years - £290.98 in 2013 and £321.50 in 2015.On (b), the information is published in the 'Sustainability' sections of DCLG annual report and accounts 2014-15 and 2015-16 at the websites below:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/440495/50208_HC_21_DCLG_2014-15_accessible.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536593/56046_DCLG_ARA_Web_only.pdf

Non-domestic Rates: Southwark

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the average percentage change in rateable values for businesses in (a) Camberwell and Peckham constituency and (b) the London Borough of Southwark in 2017.

Mr Marcus Jones: The effect of the revaluation of business rates on businesses in (a) Camberwell and Peckham and (b) the London Borough of Southwark will depend on the specific circumstances and location of the relevant property. A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support to properties which face an increase in rates. Additionally, my Department has been working closely with the Treasury to determine how best to provide further support to those businesses with the steepest increases. A package of support was subsequently announced at the Budget today. It includes £110 million to support ratepayers losing small business rates relief and rural rate relief as a result of the 2017 revaluation, as well as a £300 million discretionary relief fund for local authorities to help individual businesses that are having the greatest difficulties paying increased rates bills.

Non-domestic Rates: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of businesses to be affected by the 2017 change in rateable values in (a) Coventry South constituency and (b) the metropolitan area of Coventry.

Mr Marcus Jones: The effect of the revaluation of business rates on businesses in (a) Coventry South and (b) the metropolitan area of Coventry will depend on the specific circumstances and location of the relevant property. A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support to properties which face an increase in rates.Additionally, my Department has been working closely with the Treasury to determine how best to provide further support to those businesses with the steepest increases. A package of support was subsequently announced at the Budget today. It includes £110 million to support ratepayers losing small business rates relief and rural rate relief as a result of the 2017 revaluation, as well as a £300 million discretionary relief fund for local authorities to help individual businesses that are having the greatest difficulties paying increased rates bills.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Voting Behaviour

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to the Electoral Commission's Electoral Administration Bulletin Issue 173, published in December 2016, what further steps the Commission has taken to encourage (a) local electoral registration officers and (b) the Association of Electoral Administrators, to make information available in a format which includes as much geographic information as possible, to make it easier for materials to be prepared and web services to be built to encourage electoral participation.

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to the Electoral Commission's Electoral Administration Bulletin Issue 173, published in December 2016, what assessment the Commission has made of the potential merits of encouraging the voluntary adoption by (a) local electoral registration officers and (b) the Association of Electoral Administrators, of a standardised uniform format for the supply of information to make it easier for materials to be prepared and web services to be built by political parties and others to encourage electoral participation.

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to the Electoral Commission's Electoral Administration Bulletin Issue 173, published in December 2016, whether the Commission plans to advise the Secretary of State to issue a direction under section 52 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 to require local electoral registration officers to make such information available in an easy-to-reuse format which includes as much geographic information as possible to make it easier for materials to be prepared and web services to be built to encourage electoral participation.

Bridget Phillipson: The Electoral Commission is working with Democracy Club and with local authorities to provide voters with easy access to polling station and candidate information in the lead up to elections, via a central online resource. To facilitate the easy collation of returns from local authorities, Democracy Club provides guidance on providing data in an open format. The Commission has encouraged the voluntary adoption of this preferred approach through its own communications with local authorities, including in its Electoral Administration bulletin, in its Roll Call newsletter and in meetings with local authorities. Recognising that local authorities currently hold this data in a variety of different formats, Democracy Club and the Commission currently prioritise the participation of the local authorities and Democracy Club manage any necessary reformatting of submitted data. The Commission has no current plans to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State in respect of the provision of this information.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Nuclear Power Stations: Cumbria

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received from firms interested in the planned nuclear plant at Moorside; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent representations he has received from Toshiba on the future of the planned nuclear plant at Moorside; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: Ministers regularly meet new nuclear developers and the wider nuclear industry; this includes recent meetings with Toshiba and Nugen, with whom the Government remains in close contact as they develop their commercial plans.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Margot James: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was created by merging the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) with parts of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The amounts spent by BIS and DECC was as follows:BIS FY 11-12FY 12-13FY 13-14FY 14-15FY 15-16Paper***£14,115£3,088iPads***£5,510£0 *Figures for the 11/12, 12/13 and 13/14 financial years cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costDECC FY 11-12FY 12-13FY 13-14FY 14-15FY 15-16Paper********£13,643.64iPads******£900£22,494 **Figures for the 11/12, 12/13, 13/14 and 14/14 (paper only) financial years cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost

Companies: Scotland

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Scottish limited partnerships are qualifying partnerships under the terms of The Companies and Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) Regulations 2013.

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Northern Irish limited partnerships are qualifying partnerships under the terms of The Companies and Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) Regulations 2013.

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many English limited partnerships are qualifying partnerships under the terms of The Companies and Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) Regulations 2013.

Margot James: Companies House is not required to identify limited partnerships in such a way as to ascertain whether they are qualifying partnerships under The Companies and Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) Regulations 2013. Consequently, it does not capture this information in any direct way and could only obtain it at disproportionate cost.

Manufacturing Industries: Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to increase manufacturing job opportunities in East Durham.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to improve manufacturing competitiveness in (a) Peterlee and (b) East Durham.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has now invested a total of £379.6m in the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area as part of the three rounds of the Growth Deal programme. This includes Local Growth funds earmarked toward the development of the International Advanced Manufacturing Park in Sunderland adjacent to the Nissan UK manufacturing facility, which will be the location for advanced manufacturing and European-scale supply chain industries and will see an estimated 5,200 jobs created in the long term. Through its Manufacturing Growth Programme, North East LEP is helping aspiring manufacturing businesses across the North East through in-depth one-to-one support from manufacturing growth expertThe Growth Deal programme is also investing in supporting science and technology companies. The Centre for Innovation in Formulation to be based at NetPark in County Durham will be a new innovation centre aimed at developing new formulation processes for use in areas such as healthcare and pharmaceuticals. The Centre will be will receive £8.9m of Local Growth Fund through Growth Deal.We are working with UK industry to create the right conditions for competitive, world leading manufacturing businesses to flourish and grow across the UK. We are supporting all UK manufacturers by cutting business taxes, slashing red tape and investing in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale. Through our Industrial Strategy, we will make sure that we are using all the tools we have to stimulate growth in places such as Peterlee and East Durham. That means using our record investments in infrastructure to unlock growth in every part of the country; using the major new investment in research to support innovative manufacturing businesses across the country; and encouraging inward investment into the parts of the country where we need to get growth going faster.

Social Services: Taxation

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will give direction to HM Revenue and Customs not to pursue care providers for back-dated tax which predates the guidance issued on the national minimum wage and sleep-in payments.

Margot James: I currently have no plans to issue a direction requiring HM Revenue and Customs not to pursue social care providers for arrears of pay or penalties relating to periods that pre-date amended Government guidance.

Rented Housing: Energy

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish proposals on the revision of landlord energy efficiency regulations.

Jesse Norman: The Department is considering options for the implementation of the private rented property energy efficiency regulations, with a view to ensuring they can be implemented effectively by April 2018.

Carbon Emissions

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what revisions he has made to his Department's forthcoming emissions reduction plan.

Mr Nick Hurd: Our emissions reduction plan will set out how we will reduce emissions through the 2020s and send an important signal to the markets, businesses and investors.We are investing the time now to undertake critical preparatory work to ensure we get this right. This includes engaging across businesses, industry and other stakeholders on the shared challenge of moving to a low carbon economy.

Energy: Meters

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the installation of smart meters on customers' ability to switch supplier.

Margot James: The Government’s aim is that smart meters installed by one supplier can be operated by another so that consumers can switch energy supplier readily and retain the benefits of their smart metering service. That is why the Data and Communications Company (DCC), and the latest version of the smart metering technical specifications (known as SMETS2), have been established.Smart meters complying with the first version of the technical specifications (SMETS1) are delivering real benefits to consumers and have helped the industry prepare for the main installation stage of the roll-out. Consumers with these meters are still able to switch supplier. If the new supplier is not able to operate the meter in smart mode, the meter will continue to record energy consumption accurately and can be used in traditional mode, with meter readings taken manually. The meter will not normally need to be replaced. Work is underway to make SMETS1 smart meters interoperable between energy suppliers, through enrolment into the DCC’s system.

Manufacturing Industries: Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward proposals to improve competitiveness and promote employment opportunities for manufacturing in East Durham.

Mr Nick Hurd: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given today to Question UIN 66289.

Coal: Colombia

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the US on elimination of child labour in the Colombian coal mining industry; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not engaged with the US government on this issue.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Policy

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department's main policy priority is for 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: BEIS is at the heart of the Government’s ambition to create a stronger, fairer Britain – and a country that is more outward-looking than ever before.BEIS has a critical role driving forward the changes that will build an economy that works for everyone. To deliver this ambitious agenda, our focus in 2017 will be: delivering a modern industrial strategy to enable all parts of the country to succeed– supporting and shaping a highly-skilled, competitive economy that benefits people throughout the UK. We will also be playing our role in a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union that works for the UK and for the EU, striving to be ambitious in the negotiations, securing the best possible access for businesses to trade with and operate in the European market.

Higher Education

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is his policy to seek for the UK to remain a member of the Bologna Process after the UK's withdrawal from the EU; and whether he plans that UK university degrees will be considered compatible with degrees in EU member states under the Bologna Process following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Joseph Johnson: The Bologna Process, which created the European Higher Education Area in 2010, is an intergovernmental agreement among 28 countries in the European region. It is not an EU body and therefore UK membership will not be affected by the UK’s departure from the EU.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Belarus: Elections

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the fairness of the conduct of parliamentary elections in Belarus held in September 2016.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress made by the Government of Belarus in implementing the recommendations of the final report of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights on the conduct of that country's presidential elections in October 2015.

Boris Johnson: ​Some improvements were observed in the conduct of the September 2016 parliamentary elections in Belarus. Two opposition candidates were elected for the first time, but the elections remained a managed affair, key Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) recommendations remain outstanding and a number of long-standing systemic shortcomings remain.

Belarus: World Trade Organisation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress of negotiations on the potential accession of Belarus to the World Trade Organisation.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Belarusian counterpart on the effects of Eurasian Economic Union membership on the economic performance of that country.

Boris Johnson: Belarus resumed WTO membership negotiations in January 2017 when the WTO Working Party on the country’s accession met for the first time in 12 years. Belarus emphasised that moving forward with WTO accession is a priority for the country in 2017. It has concluded bilateral market access agreements with 10 WTO members to date.Although a core member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the dividends that Belarus must reasonably have hoped to gain from its membership have not materialised. Trade amongst the EEU countries has fallen: by 11% in 2014 and by 25% in 2015.

Belarus: EU External Relations

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress of implementation of the EU's Mobility Partnership with Belarus.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Belarusian counterpart on the imposition by Russian authorities of border controls between Belarus and Russia.

Boris Johnson: The UK is not a participant in the EU Mobility Partnership with Belarus and has not therefore made such an assessment.The British Embassy Minsk, as chair of the EU-Belarus Consular Working Group, has engaged the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the imposition by Russian authorities of border controls between Belarus and Russia. The Ministry have told us that this is a matter for the Russian authorities. The Belarusian authorities are content for all nationals to travel in/out of Belarus provided that they have the correct visas.

Belarus: Sanctions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the maintenance of (a) the current EU arms embargo on Belarus and (b) EU-imposed travel bans and asset freezes in place in relation to certain specified Belarusian nationals.

Boris Johnson: ​The UK supports maintaining the current restrictive measures against Belarus.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2017 to Question 64544, what discussions his Department held with the Department for Exiting the European Union on the drafting of the White Paper entitled The United Kingdom's exit from and new partnership with the European Union, Cm 9417, published in February 2017.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​I refer the Hon. Member to my answerof 28 February (PQ 64544). We, and other Departments, are working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union on all aspects of leaving the European Union.

Council of Europe: Treaties

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Council of Europe conventions the UK (a) is and (b) is not a signatory to.

Sir Alan Duncan: This information is publically available at https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/search-on-states/-/conventions/treaty/search/states_coe

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Sir Alan Duncan: In 2016/17 (as of 1 February 2017) the FCO spent £57,500 on tablet devices.In 2015/16 it spent £3,610.In 2014/15 it spent £146,125.The FCO does not keep a central record of figures for tablet purchases before 2014.The FCO employs over 14,000 people in a worldwide network of nearly 270 diplomatic offices. There may have been additional purchases of tablet computers out of devolved budgets. This information is not held centrally and to collate it would incur disproportionate cost.Expenditure by all Central Government departments on office equipment, including paper, dating back to financial year 2011-12 is published on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/greening-government-commitments#annual-reports.

BBC Monitoring

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what agreement the Government has made with the BBC on (a) who will receive the proceeds of the sale of Caversham Park, Reading and (b) permitted uses of those proceeds.

Sir Alan Duncan: No agreement has been made. Who will receive the proceeds of a sale, and the use of those proceeds is dependent on ownership, which the Government is in the process of clarifying.

South Sudan: Peacekeeping Operations

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Government of South Sudan on the deployment of UN peacekeepers in that country; and whether he plans for those peacekeepers to include UK service personnel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We regularly discuss with the Government of South Sudan the need to cooperate fully with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in order to allow the mission to effectively fulfil its mandate, including the protection of civilians, monitoring the human rights situation, and securing the delivery of humanitarian aid. We continue to urge them to make progress on this issue. Most recently, the UK Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan raised this directly with President Kiir on 2 March.We are currently in the process of deploying 379 UK troops to UNMISS. They will carry out vital engineering and advisory support, and will set up a field hospital in Bentiu.

Israel: Bedouin

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent communications he has had with the Israeli Government on the topic of Khan al-Ahmar.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government is gravely concerned about demolition of Palestinian property by the Israeli authorities, including plans to demolish the Bedouin village of Khan al Ahmar. I raised this issue with the Israeli Ambassador to London on 1 March. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv last raised our concerns with the Israeli authorities on 28 February.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Tourism

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from the tourism sector on the implications of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: As we prepare for negotiations on the UK’s exit from the EU, DExEU ministers are working with their colleagues across government to consult with a broad range of stakeholders in order to secure the best possible deal for the whole UK.Tourism is a key part of our economy. In 2015 foreign visitors contributed £22bn to our economy and the industry as a whole supports some 1.6 million jobs. Since the referendum result, Government has met with stakeholders from the tourism industry. We are confident our exit presents opportunities for growth in the tourism sector.Details of Ministerial meetings will be published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which will be made publicly available on GOV.UK.

Brexit

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to his oral contribution of 24 January 2017, Official Report, columns 180-81, when he plans to confirm the cost of the Supreme Court appeal of the Brexit court case decision.

Mr Robin Walker: The Department has not been billed for all costs related to the case. Details of the total costs associated with the case, including the costs of the Supreme Court appeal, will be published in due course after they have been settled.

Attorney General

Brexit: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Attorney General, whether he has made an assessment of the written legal opinion by Sir David Edward, Sir Francis Jacobs and Sir Jeremy Lever on the constitutional role of Parliament in future decision making on withdrawal from the European Union and whether an Article 50 notification may be unilaterally withdrawn.

Jeremy Wright: By longstanding convention, the fact that the Law Officers have or have not advised, and the content of their advice, is not disclosed outside Government.

Attorney General: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Attorney General, how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Robert Buckland: GLD expenditure on IPads and tablets (including VAT): 2012: nil2013: nil2014: £12,252.002015: nil2016: £24,933.12 GLD has consistently consumed 13,960 boxes (69,800 reams) of paper per annum for the last 5 years. The cost for the period 2016-17 to date was £76,241. Accurate costs for earlier periods cannot be determined except at disproportionate cost since they form part of composite billing for all stationery. HMCPSI Expenditure on IPads and tablets (including VAT): 2012: nil2013: nil2014: nil2015: nil2016: nil Accurate costs for paper purchases cannot be determined except at disproportionate cost since they form part of composite billing for all stationery. CPS and AGO The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has not spent any money on iPads in the last five years. The CPS, including the Attorney General’s Office, spend on tablets over the last five years has been provided in the table below: Year Cost of Tablet including VAT(£)2012 75,4122013 02014 02015 46,0772016 25,885**costs are estimated for 2016 (b) The CPS estimates that it has spent the following amounts on paper over the last 5 years: Year Cost (£)2012* 1,120,9042013* 926,6092014** 983,8022015** 847,4312016** 445,717* costs for 2012 and 2013 are based on historic data provided by CPS stationery suppliers** costs for 2014, 2015 and 2016 are estimated and based on total stationery spend for the periods.To identify all expenditure that relates solely and specifically to paper would involve the manual checking of thousands of invoices and would incur a disproportionate cost. Accurate costs for AGO paper purchases cannot be determined except at disproportionate cost since they form part of composite billing for all stationery.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Information Officers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff in her Department are employed in media relations and communications roles; and how much was spent on the salaries of such staff members in each of the last 10 years.

Rory Stewart: DFID’s central communications team has 40 staff employed in media relations and communications roles and 2 administrative support roles. 12 staff have direct responsibility for daily media relations activities.Staff salary spend on media relations and communications roles (including administrative support roles) in each of the last ten years is detailed in the table below:YearStaff salaries (£)Total staff numbers2006-2007£1,479,089.2007-2008£2,180,564.2008-2009£2,847,099.2009-2010£2,979,962542010-2011£2,774,107502011-2012£3,230,099532012-2013£2,730,952492013-2014£2,688,796422014-2015£2,815,247422015-2016£2,650,67242

Department for International Development: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the procurement spend of her Department was in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: DFID spend each year since 2010 through organisations that have a contract with the department is shown below.YearSpend2010/11£0.54bn2011/12£0.67bn2012/13£0.73bn2013/14£1.02bn2014/15£1.24bn2015/16£1.34bnDFID’s use of contractors is an operationally important part of the department’s delivery strategy, enabling DFID to respond quickly and efficiently to crises and reach those in need in some of the most dangerous parts of the world.Contractors help deliver projects on the ground such as treatment centres to defeat Ebola in Sierra Leone, life-saving aid to Syrian refugees, and shelter to people who have lost their homes as a result of natural disasters‎.‎

Department for International Trade: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Rory Stewart: In the UK DFID has spent the following on:(a) iPads and tablets:Financial year 15/16 - £785Financial year 16/17 - £3,664(b) paper:Financial year 12/13 - £11,532Financial year 13/14 - £11,304Financial year 14/15 - £8,022Financial year 15/16 - £9,159Financial year 16/17 - £6,794There would be a disproportionate costs involved in collating this information from DFID’s offices located overseas.

Department for International Development: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2017 to Question 65001, what proportion of live contracts held by her Department are the 450 live contracts above the EU threshold; what estimate she has made of the amount of staff time spent overseeing those contracts; how many Senior Responsible Owners there are for those contracts; and how many staff those Senior Responsible Owners  manage in relation to monitoring those contracts.

Rory Stewart: The number of contracts within the Department below the OJEU threshold is not held centrally, they are tracked and managed by individual country offices. The requested proportion cannot, therefore, be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.For live contracts above the EU threshold, each contract has a Senior Responsible Owner. There are currently 640 Senior Responsible Owners for live programmes in DFID. The number of staff managed by the Senior Responsible Owner in relation to monitoring contracts varies. On average there will be at least eight staff members directly involved in the oversight of each contract. The amount of time each staff member will spend varies depending on the type of contract and how it is performing.

Department for Education

Pupils: Personal Records

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2017 to Question 61932, on how many occasions data releases that include identifiable pupil level data have been approved by her Department since 2010.

Nick Gibb: Pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2017 to Question 61932, no requests which contain individual identifiers (such as name, address, etc) have been released to the media[1]. [1] We have defined ‘the media’ as ‘organisations whose primary purpose is the generation of news stories for an online, print or screen/radio presence’

GCE A-level

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2017 to Question 63760, on GCE A-level, where the information requested is held.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2017 to Question 63761, on GCE A-level, where the information requested is held.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2017 to Question 63762, on GCE A-level, where the information requested is held.

Nick Gibb: The information that the honourable member requires is not routinely available in Key Stage 5 data. I have asked the statistical head of profession to review the analysis for the information requested by the honourable member. The Department plans to publish this for the first time in a statistical bulletin on Key Stage 5 attainment by characteristics, on 16 March 2017.

Politics and Government: GCE A-level

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils who took A-levels in government and politics in 2016 were recipients of free school meals during any of their time in secondary school.

Nick Gibb: The information that the honourable member requires is not routinely available in Key Stage 5 data. I have asked the statistical head of profession to review the analysis for the information requested by the honourable member. The Department plans to publish this for the first time in a statistical bulletin on Key Stage 5 attainment by characteristics, on 16 March 2017.

Politics and Government: GCE A-level

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils of each ethnicity took an A-level in government and politics in 2016.

Nick Gibb: The information that the honourable member requires is not routinely available in Key Stage 5 data. I have asked the statistical head of profession to review the analysis for the information requested by the honourable member. The Department plans to publish this for the first time in a statistical bulletin on Key Stage 5 attainment by characteristics, on 16 March 2017.

Arts: GCSE

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students (a) eligible and (b) not eligible for free school meals have taken (i) art, (ii) music and (iii) drama GCSE in each of the last six years; and what proportion of all students taking each of those GCSEs those figures represent.

Nick Gibb: The table below provides information as requested for the number of pupils (a) eligible and (b) not eligible free school meals in (i) art, (ii) music and (iii) drama GCSE[1] in each of the last six years; and the proportion of all pupils in each of those GCSEs those figures represent.Numbers byPercentage byYear All PupilsFSMall other pupilsFSMall other pupils2010/11Art and Design GCSE140,86417,502123,36212.487.6Drama GCSE66,6977,30059,39710.989.1Music GCSE37,9952,76035,2357.392.72011/12Art and Design GCSE136,45117,066119,38512.587.5Drama GCSE62,7217,39555,32611.888.2Music GCSE35,7502,67433,0767.592.52012/13Art and Design GCSE141,51218,973122,53913.486.6Drama GCSE62,1457,58754,55812.287.8Music GCSE36,4263,00533,4218.291.82013/14Art and Design GCSE151,67821,411130,26714.185.9Drama GCSE63,7678,01255,75512.687.4Music GCSE37,7363,37334,3638.991.12014/15Art and Design GCSE157,29322,217135,07614.185.9Drama GCSE63,6657,79755,86812.287.8Music GCSE39,0003,57135,4299.290.82015/16Art and Design GCSE148,94020,640128,30013.986.1Drama GCSE61,0417,04653,99511.588.5Music GCSE37,3263,45533,8719.390.7  Source: Key Stage 4 attainment data   [1] Based on GCSE examinations only - excludes equivalents

Politics and Government: GCE A-level

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of post-16 education institutions entered at least one pupil for an A-level in government and politics in 2016.

Nick Gibb: In 2016, 2,847 institutions entered at least one pupil for at least one A-level. Of these, 1,272 institutions (45%) entered at least one pupil for an A-level in government and politics[1].   [1] Derived from School Performance Tables available athttps://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data?currentstep=datatypes&regiontype=all&la=0&downloadYear=2015-2016&datatypes=ks5underlying

Arts: GCE A-level

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students (a) eligible and (b) not eligible for free school meals have taken (i) art, (ii) music and (iii) drama A-level in each of the last six years; and what proportion of all students taking each of those A-levels those figures represent.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students eligible for free school meals have taken (a) art, (b) music and (c) drama A-level in each of the last six years.

Nick Gibb: The information that the honourable member requires is not routinely available in Key Stage 5 data. I have asked the statistical head of profession to review the analysis for the information requested by the honourable member. The Department plans to publish this for the first time in a statistical bulletin on Key Stage 5 attainment by characteristics, on 16 March 2017.

Arts: GCSE

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students eligible for free school meals have taken (a) art, (b) music and (c) drama GCSE in each of the last six years.

Nick Gibb: The table below provides information as requested for the proportion of students eligible for free school meals who have taken art, music and drama GCSE in each of the last six years.YearNumber of FSM eligible studentsProportion of students who took GCSE Art and Design.Proportion of students who took GCSE Drama.Proportion of students who took GCSE Music.2010/1179,16822.19.23.52011/1280,19421.39.23.32012/1385,18222.38.93.52013/1480,62926.69.94.22014/1576,46629.110.24.72015/1672,52828.59.74.8  Source: Key Stage 4 attainment data

Visual Arts: GCSE

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) students and (b) students eligible for free school meals took the Fine Art GCSE examination in each of the last six years.

Nick Gibb: The table below provides information as requested for the number of pupils (a) eligible and (b) not eligible free school meals in Fine Art GCSE[1] in each of the last six years.YearAll StudentsFSM2010/1144,4124,8922011/1242,7184,7082012/1344,5065,2092013/1445,3355,5562014/1545,4665,6152015/16[2]44,3395,470  Source: Key Stage 4 attainment data [1] Based on GCSE examinations only - excludes equivalents[2] 2015/16 figures are revised, all other figures are final.

Politics: GCE A-level

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which post-16 education institutions by school type entered pupils for an A-level in government and politics in 2016.

Nick Gibb: The data required is published in the 16-18 School Performance Tables[1].  [1] Derived from School Performance Tables available athttps://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data?currentstep=datatypes&regiontype=all&la=0&downloadYear=2015-2016&datatypes=ks5underlying

Textiles: GCSE

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students eligible for free school meals took textiles GCSE in each of the last six years; and what proportion of all students taking textiles GCSE in each of those years those figures represent.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students eligible for free school meals took photography GCSE in each of the last six years; and what proportion of all students taking photography GCSE in each of those years those figures represent.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students eligible for free school meals took graphics GCSE in each of the last six years; and what proportion of all students taking graphics GCSE in each of those years those figures represent.

Nick Gibb: The table below provides information as requested for the number of pupils (a) eligible and (b) not eligible free school meals in (i) Graphics GCSE, (ii) textiles GCSE and (iii) photography GCSE[1] in each of the last six years; and the proportion of all students taking each of those GCSEs.  Entries made byPercentage of entries made byYear  FSMall other pupilsFSMall other pupils2010/11Graphics GCSE5,4937734,72014.185.9Textiles GCSE39,3614,94234,41912.687.4Photography GCSE9,4061,0408,36611.188.92011/12Graphics GCSE5,9757915,18413.286.8Textiles GCSE38,2464,75433,49212.487.6Photography GCSE11,0471,2969,75111.788.32012/13Graphics GCSE6,3358975,43814.285.8Textiles GCSE34,2524,60929,64313.586.5Photography GCSE13,6501,77411,87613872013/14Graphics GCSE6,7579165,84113.686.4Textiles GCSE31,5234,32627,19713.786.3Photography GCSE18,8872,69116,19614.285.82014/15Graphics GCSE6,6058345,77112.687.4Textiles GCSE29,8843,98925,89513.386.7Photography GCSE21,2183,15018,06814.885.22015/16Graphics GCSE5,7217344,98712.887.2Textiles GCSE26,6433,36123,28212.687.4Photography GCSE21,2433,06018,18314.485.6 Source: Key Stage 4 attainment data [1] Based on GCSE examinations only - excludes equivalents

Overseas Students: Loans

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total amount owed by non-UK EU graduates in English student loans has been in each of the last 10 years.

Joseph Johnson: Statistics covering English student loans are published annually by the Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release (SFR) ‘Student Loans in England’.http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/full-catalogue-of-official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx

Higher Education: Standards

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to implement the Teaching Excellence Framework proposed in the White Paper entitled Success as a knowledge economy published in May 2016

Joseph Johnson: The Government set out a proposed implementation timetable for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in Success as a knowledge economy.The implementation of the TEF has been in line with the timing set out and 299 institutions, including all English members of the Russell Group, have opted in to the current round of assessments. However, as the White Paper noted, we are implementing the TEF using a staged approach. Following further consultation with the sector about implementing subject level TEF, the Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation announced that we will be extending the pilot phase of subject level TEF by an additional year. Two full years of piloting is in line with the best practice demonstrated in the development of the Research Excellence Framework and recognises the additional complexity involved in developing a subject level assessment. This will mean that the first full year of subject level TEF assessments will take place in 2020.

Students: Finance

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 46 of the Success as a knowledge economy White Paper published in May 2016, what plans she has to introduce an alternative model of student finance including Sharia-compliant student loans.

Joseph Johnson: The Government has introduced the primary legislation required to allow alternative student finance, consistent with the principles of Islamic finance, to be offered alongside grants and loans. The Higher Education and Research Bill is currently before Parliament.

Overseas Students: Loans

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that non-UK EU nationals who graduate from UK universities having taken out student loans repay their debts within the agreed timeframe.

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government takes to reclaim student loans from graduates from non-UK EU countries who fail to repay those loans.

Joseph Johnson: The Student Loans Company (SLC) has arrangements in place to collect repayments from borrowers who move away from the UK. SLC establishes a 12 month repayment schedule based on the borrower’s income and provides information on the methods of repayment available.SLC sets up fixed repayment schedules for borrowers who do not remain in contact and will place those borrowers in arrears. Further action, including legal action, can then be taken to secure recovery.The Department published a Joint Repayment Strategy in February 2016, which sets out how action will be taken to trace borrowers and act to recover loans where avoidance or evasion is identified. This publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/student-loan-repayment-strategy.

Refugees: Children

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government took to encourage foster care provision ahead of its decision to close the Dubs scheme for unaccompanied minors.

Edward Timpson: The Government takes the welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children extremely seriously and the UK has contributed significantly to hosting, supporting and protecting the most vulnerable children affected by the migration crisis. The Government committed to increasing the number of foster carers as part of our wider safeguarding strategy for unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children. In September, we commissioned the Refugee Council and ECPAT to deliver training for foster carers and support workers to support them in looking after unaccompanied asylum seeking or refugee children. We have also committed to evaluating the need for any additional training required by foster carers looking after these children. Further information on our safeguarding strategy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/safeguarding-unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-and-refugee-children

Children: Carers

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report by the Children's Commissioner for England on young carers, published in December 2016; and if she will provide additional support to councils in England to help them to (a) identify and (b) improve support for young carers.

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what role her Department plans to play in developing and implementing the Government's carers strategy in respect of support provided to young carers.

Edward Timpson: The Government has already introduced legislative changes to The Children Act 1989 (s17) to ensure that local authorities carry out an assessment, on request or on the appearance of need, of young carers’ need for support.The Department for Education welcomed the Children’s Commissioner report and has just concluded the analysis of this, as well as recently published DfE-commissioned research. Officials are now considering the evidence and exploring various policy avenues which will help local authorities, schools and professionals to improve the identification and support of young carers and their families. This will lead to a contribution from Department for Education setting out our vision and future plans which will be part of the cross-government Carers’ Strategy led by the Department of Health and due to be published by Summer 2017.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons she has not answered named day Question 65038 tabled on 22 February 2017 and Questions 64794, 64793, 64792 and 64791 tabled on 21 February 2017.

Nick Gibb: The answers to these PQs were published on 8 March 2017.

Sex and Relationship Education

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 1 March 2017, HCWS509, on sex and relationships education (SRE), whether she plans that new regulations and statutory guidance on the teaching of SRE will include teaching on (a) transsexuality, (b) same-sex relationships, (c) staying safe online, (d) cyber bullying, (e) sexting, (f) violence against women and girls, (g) consent and (h) child abuse.

Edward Timpson: Following the announcement on 1 March, we plan to undertake a comprehensive programme of engagement with stakeholders to set out suitable, age-appropriate content on relationships and sex education (RSE) which focuses on mental wellbeing, consent, resilience, age-appropriate relationships and sex education, and keeping safe online. Schools already have a duty to comply with the requirements of the Equalities Act to ensure we remove any barriers to equality and help to build a fairer society. Our key aim for the proposed relationships education and RSE, working in conjunction with PSHE, is to equip pupils with the knowledge and life skills they will need to stay safe and develop healthy and supportive relationships, particularly dealing with the challenges of growing up in an online world. The focus in primary school will be on building healthy relationships and staying safe. As children get older, it is important that they start to develop their understanding of healthy adult relationships in more depth, with sex education delivered in that context. The regulations and guidance will be subject to full public consultation later this year, and we expect to see children and young people being taught this new curriculum in schools as soon as September 2019.

Schools: Standards

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools undertook reception baseline assessment in the academic year 2016-17 with her Department's approved provider (a) Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University, (b) Early Excellence, (c) GL Assessment and (d) National Foundation for Education Research.

Nick Gibb: The following numbers of schools undertook the reception baseline assessment in the 2016/17 academic year:(a) Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University: 913 schools;(b) Early Excellence: 2,038 schools;(c) GL Assessment: 33 schools; and(d) National Foundation for Education Research: 917 schools.

Pre-school Education

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have qualified as an early years educator in each of the last six years; and what the distribution of those people was in each region in that period.

Caroline Dinenage: The number of achievements of the Early Years Educator (EYE) Advanced Apprenticeship and stand-alone EYE qualifications in each region since 2013/14, when the EYE qualification was introduced, is attached. On 3 March, the Department for Education published a response to a consultation on the requirement for early years educators to have English and mathematics GCSEs at grade C or above. Following the consultation, it has been decided to broaden the qualification requirements to include other suitable level 2 qualifications, including functional skills, with effect from 3 April 2017. The Government response to the consultation on level 3 qualification requirements can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/level-3-early-years-educator-numeracy-and-literacy-requirements The Early Years Workforce Strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy



EYE Qualifications by region
(PDF Document, 264.39 KB)

Languages: Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the breadth of the range of modern foreign languages taught in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Maintained schools must teach a modern or ancient foreign language to pupils at Key Stage 2 and 3. At Key Stage 4, there is a statutory entitlement for every pupil in a maintained school to take a course in a modern foreign language if they wish to. Schools can choose which language to teach. It is important to have high quality qualifications not just in French, German and Spanish but also in languages such as Polish, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati and Turkish. The Government and exam boards have secured the future of these languages so pupils can study them as part of a core academic curriculum. We are also expanding the teaching of Mandarin Chinese through our Mandarin Excellence Programme.

Secondary Education: Admissions

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of places at outstanding secondary schools filled by children from low-income families.

Nick Gibb: Data is not available showing children from low-income families. However, as a proxy for low income, we can provide data showing children who have been eligible for free school meals during the last six years. 21% of secondary pupils who attended outstanding schools as at 31 August 2016, were eligible for free school meals at some point during the last six years. Please note that the data uses latest Ofsted official statistics from 31 August 2016 and matches this to school census data provided on the 2016 school performance tables.

Physical Education: Teachers

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2017 to Question 64690, how many physical education teachers have been trained in the UK in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The figures held by the Department for Education for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) relate to England only. In the academic year 2016/17, there were 1,098 new entrants to physical education ITT in England, exceeding our teacher supply model target of 999.We have exceeded this target for each academic year since 2010/11. The number of new entrants to physical education (PE) ITT in England each year since 2010 is as follows[1]: Academic YearNew entrants to ITT2010/111,560[2]2011/129802012/139862013/141,0772014/151,0952015/161,2352016/171,098  Further information on final year ITT trainees for PE, including the proportion of those awarded QTS and the proportion in a teaching post within 6 months, can be found in table 6a on the ITT Performance Profiles webpage. The figures are published up to 2014/15, and can be accessed through: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-performance-profiles-2014-to-2015. [1] Source: ITT CensusFigures for 2016/17 are provisional and subject to change.Recruitment to Teach First programmes is included from 2015/16[2] The 2011/12 onwards figures refer to postgraduates only. The 2010/11 figure may include undergraduate starters.

Higher Education: Standards

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which data sets will be used to assess the performance of higher education institutions in the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework.

Joseph Johnson: The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) will assess providers on a wide range of evidence, including core metrics, contextual information and additional information that is submitted by the provider. A peer review panel will use this evidence to form a holistic judgement as to the quality of teaching at each provider.The data sets used for the core metrics in Year Two of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) are:the teaching on course, assessment and feedback and academic support scales from the National Student Survey (NSS).retention using Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) UK Performance Indicators and the Individual Learner Record (ILR).proportion in employment or in further study using Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.proportion in highly skilled employment or in further study using Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.Full details are set out in the TEF Year Two Specification:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/556355/TEF_Year_2_specification.pdfMoving beyond year 2, we will ensure the TEF assessment process benefits from new developments in the evidence available to us on teaching quality and student outcomes. One of the most important of these will use the Longitudinal Educational Outcomes data (LEO) set in conjunction with DLHE to provide a highly skilled employment measure.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to support the recruitment of high-quality childcare practitioners.

Caroline Dinenage: On 3 March, the Department for Education published an early years workforce strategy, which seeks to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff. On the same date, the Department for Education published a response to a consultation undertaken with the sector on the requirement for early years educators to have English and mathematics GCSEs at grade C or above. This response, and the early years workforce strategy published on the same day, set out the actions we will take as a result of the consultation.  The Government’s response to the consultation on level 3 qualification requirements can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/level-3-early-years-educator-numeracy-and-literacy-requirements In addition, the Early Years Workforce Strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on the Government's 30 hour free childcare policy on the financial stability of those private nursery providers that have piloted it.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress has been made on the piloting of the Government's 30 hours free childcare policy.

Caroline Dinenage: We have made good progress on delivering 30 hours free childcare. Eight local authorities began delivering the extended entitlement in September 2016 and around 4600 places have been allocated. In York, where all eligible parents are able to take up the offer, 100% of providers that previously offered the free entitlements are now delivering 30 hours free childcare.An independent evaluation of Early Implementation is assessing the impact of the 30 hours entitlement. This will include insights on the impact of delivering 30 hours on providers. There will be a national event in the spring to share learning, and the evaluation report will be published in July. Learning will continue to be captured throughout the year and shared regularly to ensure that it informs all areas of delivery planning.From April, four additional local authorities will launch 30 hours free childcare to eligible parents in their area. These areas will test specific elements of 30 hours delivery, including the impact of rurality and high parental eligibility. Our delivery contractor Childcare Works is working closely with these local authorities and the Early Implementers, continually sharing best practice examples with other local authorities at their Progress Share meetings and dissemination events to help them prepare for national rollout in September.

Educational Psychology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to increase the number of educational psychologists working with schools.

Edward Timpson: The Department is increasing the number of educational psychologists working with schools by building capacity in the educational psychology workforce. It is achieving this by:a) Increasing the number of Department funded educational psychology doctorate training places from 150 per intake at present to 160 per intake from 2018, at a cost of £7.7M per course intake (currently £7.2M).b) Advertising for an educational psychology training provider in the East of England to deliver training from 2018. This will address the current anomaly of the region being the only one in England without a local educational psychology training provider. In addition to generating a flow of newly qualified educational psychologists locally, trainees while they are on the course will work in local services, including schools, while on practice placement in years two and three.In addition, the Minister is meeting a group of national representatives from the profession (The Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP), National Association of Principal Educational Psychologists (NAPEP) and British Psychological Society) on 14 March, to discuss the issues facing the profession and possible solutions.

Universities: Admissions

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide an update on the advice her Department is giving to universities on whether students taking a sabbatical from their studies should remain enrolled at their university.

Joseph Johnson: Universities are autonomous institutions responsible for setting their own policies. The Department does not provide advice to universities about student sabbaticals.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Rehabilitation

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2017 to Question 64327, what definition of sustainable employment her Department uses; and whether governors must adhere to a nationwide syllabus within which they have the scope to design a prisoner skills and qualifications regime.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department is currently finalising its definition of sustained employment ahead of new employment measures to be introduced later this year. Governors will be fully responsible for education provision in their prisons once existing contracts end, commissioning the education services they think are most appropriate. They will be able to decide how to structure their educational regime, while following a core common curriculum set nationally, which will focus on maths and English.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Housing

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that maintenance and repairs to service family accommodation and single living accommodation are carried out quickly and effectively.

Mark Lancaster: The provision of quality accommodation to our Service personnel is of the utmost importance to the Department and is at the heart of the Armed Forces Covenant. Where Serving personnel are entitled to accommodation it should be of good quality, affordable and suitably located. CarillionAmey delivers the maintenance services for Service family accommodation (SFA) and the majority of single living accommodation (SLA). Performance is monitored using key time and performance indicators against a number of maintenance categories. CarillionAmey has made notable progress in the past 18 months to improve performance to the required levels. It has been made clear to CarillionAmey that their improved performance must be sustained and improved further where possible. Ministry of Defence officials continue to meet with senior CarillionAmey officials at least once a fortnight to monitor performance. In addition, quarterly meetings take place with Top Level Budget holders, Families Federations and CarillionAmey to review progress and performance and agree how further improvements could be enacted. The Department will continue to penalise poor performance to the maximum extent we can in the contract by retaining payments. Outside of these arrangements, Project SLAM (Single Living Accommodation Modernisation) undertook to build a number of modern SLA. The new SLAM accommodation is subject to a seven year maintenance period and maintenance is carried out by the SLAM provider in accordance with the contract.

Saudi Arabia: Armed Forces

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel from each of the armed forces are stationed in Saudi Arabia.

Mike Penning: The UK Armed Forces has a total of 125 personnel from across the three Services permanently stationed in Saudi Arabia. By individual service, there are 20 Naval personnel, 53 Army personnel and 52 personnel from the Royal Air Force. Due to routine visits and training, the precise number of Armed Forces personnel in Saudi Arabia will fluctuate on a day-to-day basis.

Nuclear Disarmament

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the UN on multilateral nuclear disarmament.

Sir Michael Fallon: UK Government officials regularly engage with the United Nations on multilateral nuclear disarmament .

Armed Forces: Dogs

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military dogs have been destroyed in each year since 2012; and what the reason for each such destruction was.

Mark Lancaster: Decisions to euthanise any animal in military service are only taken by a veterinarian officer after all possible treatment avenues have been exhausted and where it is considered to be the most humane option for the animal. The only other scenario where an animal would be euthanised is where it is considered to pose a risk to public safety. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, (Anna Soubry) on 24 November 2014 to Question 205235 and the answer I gave on 22 June 2015 to Question 2717; both to the hon. Member for North Durham (Kevan Jones). Information relating to dogs euthanised by the Ministry of Defence in each year since 2015 can be found below: Reason2015-162016-17 (to 06/03/17)Abdominal Catastrophe34Cardiac Disease21Unsuitable for re-homing4017Malignant Neoplasia7-Multiple Chronic Disease Processes4-Neurological Disease43Osteoarthritis138Bone Marrow Disorder1-Cellulitis of RF necrotic and slough1-Chronic Hygromas1-Cruciate rupture-1Nasal Ulceration-1Pleurisy not responding to treatment1-Right Carpal hyperextension1-Ruptured Cranial Cruciate Ligament1-Chronic Dermatitis-1Total 7936 1 The animal is not suitable for re-homing based on behaviour and temperament, with potential consequences for an individual’s welfare. 



205235 - MOD Working Dogs
(Word Document, 16.11 KB)




2717 - Military Dogs
(Word Document, 19.17 KB)

Scotland Office

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether paragraph 55 of the Smith Commission Agreement applies to payments made under part 3 of the Scotland Act 2016 related to the calculations of the benefit cap.

David Mundell: New benefits or discretionary payments introduced by the Scottish Parliament will not be included in calculations of the benefit cap. I look forward to hearing details of new benefits or discretionary payments that the Scottish Government intend to include in their forthcoming Social Security Bill, as these are substantial powers in the Scotland Act 2016, both of which came into force in September 2016.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Government Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the total (a) number and (b) value of Government contracts that have been contracted out by her Department was in each year since 2010; what the value of pro bono costs was in each such year; and what estimate she has made of the number of work days contracted out in each such year.

Matt Hancock: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Government Art Collection

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the total Government Art Collection was loaned out or placed on public view in the last year.

Matt Hancock: The majority of the Government Art Collection is displayed in Government buildings around the world, or placed on public view.The GAC welcomes requests for loans to public exhibitions and responds positively whenever possible. Displays on the GAC premises are accessible to the public on tours of the Collection and special events such as London Open House. In addition to themed displays, visitors to the Collection are also able to see a range of other work that may be on the premises at the time of their visit.

Gambling: Children

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of permitting children to gamble in family entertainment centres on future gambling habits.

Tracey Crouch: Available evidence is inconclusive as to the long-term effect on children playing category D machines in Family Entertainment Centres. However the Government takes the issue of children gambling very seriously and continues to keep the matter under review.

Gambling: Cash Dispensing

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of locating ATMs in gambling premises on the level of gambling.

Tracey Crouch: The Government is not aware of any specific research on the effect of locating ATMs in gambling premises.

Gambling

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of displaying gaming machines in shop windows on the level of gambling in those shops.

Tracey Crouch: No assessment has been made on of the effect of displaying gaming machines in shop windows on the level of gambling.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on its independent review of full-time volunteering by young people.

Mr Rob Wilson: I expect to announce the Chair of the independent review of full-time social action by young people in due course. Following the appointment of the Chair we will appoint a panel of experts from the private and voluntary sectors. Officials in my department are providing the secretariat for the review including preliminary work in advance of the Chair and panel appointments.

Cybercrime: Education

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 7, Part 2 of the Government's Digital Strategy, published in March 2017, what estimate she has made of the number of 14 to 18 year olds; in how many schools who will be provided with specialist cyber security education.

Matt Hancock: The Cyber Schools programme aims to support and encourage students to develop key skills to help defend the nation’s businesses against online threats. The programme aims to have at least 5,700 teenagers participating by 2021 (equating to around 1% of the annual school year). The Department is currently undertaking the procurement process to select a high-quality Provider, following which the delivery mechanism and numbers will be finalised. While the programme will work closely with schools to reach its target, the final delivery mechanism and the number of schools involved is yet to be determined.

Google: Training

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 9, part 2 of the Government's Digital Strategy, published in March 2017, how many people Google plans to train through the Summer of Skills programme.

Matt Hancock: We are delighted Google have committed to launch a Summer of Skills programme in coastal towns across the UK. It will develop bespoke training programmes and bring Google experts to coach communities, tourist centres and hospitality businesses across the British coasts. This will accelerate digitisation and help boost tourism and growth in UK seaside towns. This new initiative is part of a wider digital skills programme from Google that has already trained over 150,000 people. Further questions should be directed to Google.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Contracts

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to ensure the safe use of equipment used by companies to whom his Department's services are contracted.

Caroline Nokes: For all of the Department’s major outsourced contracts to deliver its services, for example health assessments and employment-related training provision, the suppliers are responsible for providing and maintaining all items of equipment within their premises necessary for the supply of the services. In addition, as part of their contractual obligations, suppliers are required to comply with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and any other acts, orders, regulations and codes of practice relating to health and safety, which may apply to their staff and other persons working on the premises. The Department manages these supplier obligations as part of its regular contract and performance management activities.

Industrial Health and Safety: Breathing Apparatus

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to ensure face-fit testing by the Fit2Fit Scheme providers is undertaken for all workers using tight-fitting respiratory face pieces.

Penny Mordaunt: Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance states that Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) fit testing should be conducted by a competent person and that person should be appropriately trained, qualified and experienced. The voluntary Fit2Fit accreditation scheme, administered by the British Safety Industry Federation, provides evidence to help those who have responsibility for the use of RPE at work to decide whether a face fit tester is competent. Following this scheme is not compulsory and employers are free to take other action to comply with the law.

Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to work with local authorities to (a) promote good health at work and (b) ensure that workers are protected from work-related illness.

Penny Mordaunt: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the lead regulator for work related ill health, which is one of the key themes in the health and safety system strategy Helping Great Britain Work Well’. HSE consulted and liaised with Local Authorities (LAs) in the development of the strategy. LAs have dual roles as regulators of workplace health issues within specified work sectors and as major employers in their own right. HSE works with LAs, gathering information and developing delivery models so it can direct LA focus on health and safety regulatory activities via the National Local Authority Enforcement Code. HSE provides LAs with targeting advice and technical support to enable LAs to pursue the inspection and where necessary enforcement of nationally and locally identified significant workplace health issues. LAs have a duty to protect their workers from work-related illness and many LAs have proactive workforce programmes to encourage good health. HSE has identified stress as one of the key areas where there is a need to pursue improvements and is consulting stakeholders, including LAs, to develop and refine this part of the work related ill health strategy.

Personal Independence Payment

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to improve the personal independence payment assessment process to reduce the number of successful appeals against assessments.

Penny Mordaunt: In the period between April 2013 – September 2016, 1.9m PIP decisions were made. Of these, 3% were overturned on appeal. Throughout the claim and any reconsideration process, the DWP encourages and guides claimants to provide evidence and information that would be useful for their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment. We are continuing to improve the PIP process. For example, there are plans to test a new version of the ‘How your disability affects you’ form with claimants to see whether this improves their experience of claiming PIP. In addition we are carrying out our own evaluation, commissioning an external research contractor to look at people’s experiences of claiming PIP at different stages of the claimant journey. We look forward to considering the recommendations from Paul Gray’s second Independent Review of PIP which is due to be published by April. We will also shortly be introducing service user panels to take real-time feedback from claimants on their experiences of claiming PIP and consider areas for further improvement.

Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government and Government agencies are taking to work together to reduce work-related illness and deaths.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government and its agencies have brought a renewed focus to the health and safety system by working to: maintain the gains made in safety at work, while giving health the same priority; keep people in work through good health and safety management; and help people return to work through the right support and advice. This approach looks to build on the considerable strengths of the health and safety system whilst addressing its continuing challenges: the ever-changing nature of work and the needs of an increasingly ageing population. The approach is under pinned by three key strategies: the Government’s Green Paper, Work, Health and Disability: Improving Lives, which sets out the Government’s proposals for improving work and health outcomes for people with long-term health conditions; HSE’s Health and Work Strategy, which addresses the occupational health problems which most commonly afflict the working population; and the strategy for Great Britain’s wider occupational health and safety system, Helping Great Britain work well. This combined approach seeks active participation of business and the wider community in delivering lasting health and safety benefits as these issues cannot be addressed by the Government, and its agencies, acting in isolation.

Department for Work and Pensions: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Caroline Nokes: (a) The amount spent on iPads and tablets in each of the last 5 years is as follows: 12/1313/1414/1515/1616/17TotaliPads£ -£ -£ 3,169£ 2,876£ 2,759 £ 8,803 Tablets£ -£ -£ 3,638£ 3,661,288£ 15,367 £ 3,680,293 Total £ -  £ -  £ 6,806  £ 3,744,163  £ 18,127  £ 3,769,096  All figures are inclusive of VAT and relate to the cost of the device only. Purchases of tablets relate to the deployment of tablets to replace laptops for certain categories of end user.  (b) We have the following spend data for Office copier paper:2012/132013/142014/15 2015/162016/17 (YTD 01/17) £2,543,643£2,173,328£1,670,000£1,400,000£1,011,000

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing compensation for losses women who have already reached their state pension age have incurred through changes to the state pension law made by the 1995 and 2011 Pension Acts.

Richard Harrington: The Government will not be revisiting the State Pension age arrangements for women affected by the Pensions Act 1995 and Pensions Act 2011. These women will receive their State Pension either at the same age as men or earlier as we remove the current inequality. A concession was made prior to the passing of the 2011 Act which reduced the delay that anyone would experience in claiming their State Pension, relative to the previous timetable, to 18 months. This concession benefited almost a quarter of a million women, who would otherwise have experienced delays of up to two years. A similar number of men also benefited from a reduced increase, and the concession was worth £1.1 billion in total. It is worth noting that the average woman who reached SPa in 2015 gets a higher state pension income over her lifetime than an average woman reaching SPa at any point before. Also, over a lifetime, the average woman who reached State Pension age in 2015 will still receive more than the average man in spite of the rise in women’s state pension age.

Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the mobility activity 1 of the personal independence payment (PIP) assessment, how many people with multiple sclerosis have scored points on descriptors d or f on a PIP assessment for (a) new claims and (b) disability living allowance reassessments in (i) each year before and (ii) in the period since November 2016.

Penny Mordaunt: The two tables below give statistics on the number of people with main disabling condition multiple sclerosis who scored on descriptors d or f on Activity 11 (mobility activity 1) of their assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for both new claimants and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessments. Table 1 – Number of new claimants each calendar year that scored on descriptor d or f on Activity 11 of their PIP assessmentNew claims2013201420152016 (to 8th September)Number scoring d or f on Activity 112028020080 Table 2 – Number of DLA reassessment claimants each calendar year that scored d or f on Activity 11 of their PIP assessmentDLA Reassessments201420152016 (to 8th September)Number scoring d or f on Activity 1150200600Notes: Figures for both tables have been rounded to the nearest 10.   Data beyond September 2016 is not readily available; preparing it would require us to link together several complex datasets and take steps to assure the quality of the results.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether an increase in the rate of Child Benefit in Scotland under section 24 of the Scotland Act 2016 will be included in the calculations of the benefit cap.

Caroline Nokes: The Scotland Act 2016 transferred substantial new welfare powers to the Scottish Parliament, including the ability to top-up any reserved UK Government benefit, create new benefits in areas of devolved responsibility and pay discretionary payments. These powers came into force on 5 September 2016. Child Benefit remains a reserved UK Government benefit. The Scottish Government could therefore use its new top-up powers to administer separate payments to claimants who receive Child Benefit. We are working closely with the Scottish Government on the transfer and implementation of their new employment and welfare powers and we look forward to hearing about their plans, as they introduce their Social Security Bill around June. The benefit cap would not apply to these top-up payments made under section 24.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his most recent estimate is of the number of women in (a) Camberwell and Peckham constituency, (b) the London Borough of Southwark and (c) Greater London affected by the increase to the State Pension Age for women born after 6 April 1951.

Richard Harrington: Women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1953 were affected by State Pension age equalisation under the Pensions Act 1995. The Pensions Act 2011 accelerated the equalisation of State Pension age, and included transitional arrangements limiting State Pension age delays, affecting women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953. It also brought forward the increase in State Pension age from 65 to 66 which affected women born between 6 December 1953 and 5 April 1960. Information on the numbers affected by constituent country, parliamentary constituency or local authority is not held by the Department for Work and Pensions. However, the most recent population breakdowns for England and its parliamentary constituencies by age can be found here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/parliamentaryconstituencymidyearpopulationestimates Population breakdowns by local authority can be found here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland The House of Commons library have produced a paper estimating the number of women affected by the Pensions Act 2011 (those born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953) by constituency, which can be found here:http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7405/CBP-07405constituencyestimates.xlsx

Employment and Support Allowance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of employment and support allowance claimants who will fall below the poverty line as a result of recent changes in support to the work-related activity group.

Penny Mordaunt: There will be no cash losers among those who are already in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and we aim to protect existing ESA claimants who temporarily leave the benefit to try out work and then return to ESA.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Information Officers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department are employed in media relations and communications roles; and how much was spent on the salaries of such staff members in each of the last 10 years.

George Eustice: There are 61 full time equivalent staff currently employed in Defra’s communications directorate, which includes internal communications, digital communications, speechwriting, public information campaigns, communications strategy and media relations. The estimated pay cost for communications staff for the past ten years is listed below. This cost includes salaries, National Insurance and pension contributions. This amount has fluctuated as the composition of the communications directorate within Defra has changed over time in response to departmental priorities.   YearFTETotal Pay £2006/071619,105,8152007/081186,741,2402008/091176,751,6272009/101186,878,1142010/111156,770,9562011/121016,006,7332012/131106,608,0682013/141056,371,4152014/15996,068,0142015/16553,405,171

Investment Returns: Agriculture

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the return to the UK taxpayer of each £1 invested in UK Farming.

George Eustice: UK taxpayers support the agricultural sector in variety of ways: through the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), spending on agricultural research and development, including the Agri-tech Strategy, and indirectly through wider programmes such as on skills development. The benefit of each pound spent on the Agri-tech Strategy was estimated to be £9 (BIS Evaluation Plan 2016)[1]. The estimated benefit, on average, for funds spent in England under Pillar 2 of the CAP is over £3 per pound spent according to the Rural Development Plan for England Impact Assessment 2015[2], but less than £1 per pound spent for Pillar 1 according to a report on implementation of CAP in England in 2013[3]. As a result of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union there is a real opportunity to improve returns to taxpayer support for agriculture. [1] BIS Evaluation Plan 2016[2] The Rural Development Programme for England, 2014 to 2020: Final Impact Assessment (2015)[3] Implementation of CAP reform in England 2013

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the procurement spend of her Department was in each year since 2010.

George Eustice: The Departmental procurement spend since 2010 is set out in the table below. 2010-20112011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-2016398,693,030346,033,392352,275,296382,613,452401,165,784382,030,970

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) EU agencies and other organisations within her Department's remit the Government plans to withdraw from when the UK leaves the EU, (b) staff time was spent on engagement with those bodies and (c) financial resources were spent on engagement with those bodies in 2015-16.

George Eustice: We, and other Departments, are working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union on all aspects of exiting the European Union.

Microplastics

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce or eliminate microbeads in products that are not currently included within the scope of the proposed ban; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We ran a consultation between 20 December 2016 and 28 February 2017 on proposals to ban microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products. The consultation also sought to gather evidence on the extent of the environmental impacts of microplastics, including microbeads, found in other products. We are now reviewing the responses to the consultation and any new evidence will be used to inform future UK actions to protect the marine environment.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

George Eustice: Core Defra did not incur any expenditure in respect of iPads and tablets in financial years 2012-13 to 2014-15. In 2015-16, spend was £5,400, and in 2016-17, spend to 28 February 2017 totalled £44,090. Expenditure on paper is recorded on the Department’s finance system under the general heading of ‘Stationery and Printing’, along with all other stationery purchased. Identification of spend specifically on paper, as opposed to other items of stationery, could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

Bees: Varroasis

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will extend the licence for production of oxalic acid api-bioxal in a manner that would encourage a wider variety of affordable anti-Varroa treatments in the beekeeping community.

George Eustice: There are two medicines authorised for use in the UK containing oxalic acid for treating Varroa in bees.   The decision on whether to develop and market a veterinary medicine is a commercial one for those pharmaceutical companies wishing to invest the necessary capital.   In order to extend or change a licence for a medicine, the pharmaceutical company marketing it must provide sufficient data in support of the change to demonstrate that the product will remain safe and effective.

Microplastics: USA

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2017 to Question 65352, what plans she has to meet the United States Environment Protection Agency to discuss the use of microbeads.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra will continue to monitor the progress of the US ban, but has no plans to meet the United States Environmental Protection Agency to discuss the use of microbeads.

Air Pollution: EU Law

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings Ministers of her Department have had with the Department (a) for Transport and (b)  of Health on meeting the air pollution targets set out in the EU's 2008 Ambient Air Quality Directive.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of Ministerial discussions are not routinely disclosed. Defra Ministers and officials regularly meet with their counterparts in the Department for Transport and the Department of Health to discuss a range of issues of mutual interest, including Government plans to improve air quality. The Clean Growth Inter-Ministerial Group also meets regularly and helps to coordinate and drive forward Government policy on air quality.

Air Pollution: EU Law

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to retain the air quality targets contained in the 2008 Ambient Air Quality Directive after the UK has left the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Ambient Air Quality Directive (including its limit values and target values) was transposed into law in England through the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010. There are no plans to change the limit values and target values in the Regulations.

Air Pollution: EU Law

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the Government meets the air pollution targets set out in the EU's 2008 Ambient Air Quality Directive.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Government meets the air pollution targets in the 2008 Ambient Air Quality Directive.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, Tom Brake, on 27 February 2017, PQ UIN 64339.

Badgers: Vaccination

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2017 to Question 65348, on badgers: vaccination, what assessment she has made of (a) evidence from Ireland on the effectiveness of oral vaccine baits to vaccinate badgers against TB and (b) the potential effect on the incidence of TB of accelerating the deployment of such vaccines in England.

George Eustice: Defra works on the development of an oral bovine TB vaccine for badgers in partnership with the Irish and French governments, as well as the Devolved Administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland. This is through the form of a joint project board. The study in Ireland, which involved the administering of vaccine directly to anaesthetised badgers, contributed to that partnership work. Work is now being done in preparation for a further study by Defra’s Animal and Plant Health Agency later this year to assess the protection from infection that may be achieved through consumption by badgers of a candidate oral vaccine in bait, the results of which will help determine the extent to which such a vaccine may play a part in national TB programmes.

Rodents: Conservation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect the water vole population in the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Wildlife protection is a devolved matter. In accordance with the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) the water vole and its habitat receives full protection in England and Wales. The species has been identified as one of principal importance for the conservation of biodiversity in England. Water voles and other protected species benefit from a range of initiatives including Defra’s agri-environment schemes as well as river and wetland restoration projects, and water quality improvements. The Environment Agency has created nearly 5,000 hectares of wetland and river habitats in the last 10 years and is working in partnership with the Wildlife Trusts to improve and protect over 15,000km of rivers, lakes and coastal waters, creating healthy riverside habitats benefiting animals such as water voles. Agri-environment schemes such as Countryside Stewardship provide suitable habitat for wildlife including water voles and other small mammals. Scheme options that benefit water voles include buffer strips alongside ponds, ditches, and other watercourses and fencing alongside watercourses to protect bankside vegetation. Long-term strategic conservation work includes re-introduction schemes such as a recent scheme in Hertfordshire, combined with mink management projects (such as the Norfolk Mink Project) and habitat management. In addition the National Water Vole Monitoring Programme launched by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) in collaboration with the UK Water Vole Steering Group (The Wildlife Trusts, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage, Environment Agency, Natural England and RSPB) aims to bring together all surveying work that is being carried out across the country, as well as monitor selected historical sites, to establish any changes in the water vole population and to help guide future conservation efforts.

Home Office

Asylum: Deportation

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidelines her Department provides on the process for the removal of people from the UK who have exhausted an asylum application and appeal process.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office encourages people with no right to be here to leave the country voluntarily and will offer help for them to do this. Where they fail to leave the Home Office we will enforce their departure. Guidelines on removal are availablehttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/enforcement-instructions-and-guidance

Asylum: Eritrea

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications to the UK by Eritrean nationals were (a) made and (b) granted in each of the last five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office publishes the number of asylum applications and initial decisions broken down by nationality, each quarter in table as_01 of the Immigration Statistics release. The latest figures are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/593027/asylum1-q4-2016-tables.ods

Fire and Rescue Services: Migrant Workers

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-UK EU nationals are employed by the fire services.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office does not collect information on the number of non-UK EU nationals employed by the fire services. Official statistics on the fire and rescue workforce in England are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-and-rescue-authorities-operational-statistics-bulletin-for-england-2015-to-2016

EU Nationals: Greater London

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the status of non-UK EU nationals in London after the UK has left the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Securing the status of EU nationals in the UK, and UK citizens in the EU, is one of the Government’s twelve key objectives for exit.As part of this process, the Home Secretary will continue to work closely with colleagues across Whitehall, and the Government will engage with relevant stakeholders.

Metropolitan Police: Migrant Workers

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-UK EU nationals are employed by the Metropolitan Police.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office does not hold the requested data centrally.While the Home Office collects and publishes data on the police workforce, broken down by a number of characteristics, this information does not include the nationality of officers or staff.Data on the police workforce are published annually in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’, statistical bulletin, which can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales

Human Trafficking: Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that child victims of trafficking receive adequate specialist support and accommodation.

Mr Robert Goodwill: This Government is committed to ensuring that child victims of trafficking receive the support and accommodation they need. That is why we are introducing Independent Child Trafficking Advocates, starting in three early adopter sites, who will provide specialist support and act in the best interests of trafficked children. We are also investing £2.2m from the Child Trafficking Protection Fund in projects to support child trafficking victims including a specialist accommodation pilot; and we have commissioned a review, with the Department for Education, to assess local authority support for trafficked children from non-EEA countries.Under existing legislation, local authorities must draw up a care plan for each looked after child which includes ensuring they have access to health and education services and appropriate and safe accommodation.

Home Office: Disability

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on application of the attendance procedure to disabled employees in her Department; whether that policy has changed in the last seven years; and if she will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office has had three different attendance management policies during the last seven years that are applicable to all its employees.The policies make it clear that, where appropriate, reasonable adjustments should be made for disabled employees in line with the Department’s responsibilities under the Equality Act.

Irene Clennell

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what grounds the order for the deportation to Singapore of Irene Clennell was given.

Mr Robert Goodwill: All applications for leave to remain in the UK are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules. We expect those with no legal right to remain in the country to leave. Mrs Clennell has had no legal basis to remain in the UK since July 2014.Mrs Clennell has spent the majority of her life, including her married life, in Singapore. She was granted indefinite leave to remain in 1992 but this lapsed after she went on to live outside the UK for more than two years. Mrs Clennell last entered the UK as a visitor in 2013 and went on to make an application to remain as the spouse of her husband in 2013. This was refused and her appeal rights were exhausted on 10 July 2014. It is right that we expect those with no legal right to remain to leave the UK.

Police: Finance

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the real-terms change in aggregate central grant funding, excluding precept is for each police force in England and Wales from 2010-11 to 2017-18.

Brandon Lewis: Ministers make decisions on police funding to benefit policing as a whole. The Government is maintaining the planning assumption we provided to Police & Crime Commissioners and helping them ensure stable funding.Every Police & Crime Commissioner who maximises their local precept income this year and in 2017/18 will receive at least the same direct resource funding in cash that they received in 2015/16.The Government is determined to support the police to become more efficient, and transform to tackle new types of crime and protect the vulnerable. That is why the 2017/18 police funding settlement substantially increases the size of the police transformation fund by over £40m to £175m.

Asylum

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2017 to Question 63970, how many asylum claims lodged in the UK have been rejected in each year since 2014; and what proportion and how many claims lodged were correctly decided upon the first time in each such year.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office publishes figures on the outcome of asylum claims made during each calendar year in table as_06 of the Immigration Statistics release.The Home Office also publishes figures on asylum appeals and determinations, in table as_14_q of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release.A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics July to September 2016, is available from https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-releaseAll asylum claims lodged in the UK are carefully considered on their individual merits against a background of relevant case law and up to date country information. We ensure that claimants are given every opportunity to disclose information relevant to their claim before a decision is taken, even where that information may be sensitive or difficult to disclose.We are working to improve the quality of decision-making to ensure that we properly consider all the evidence provided and get decisions right the first time. UK Visas and Immigration has an internal audit process, consisting of reviews by senior case workers and independent auditors, which assesses whether Home Office policy has been followed.An allowed appeal is not in itself an indication that our decision was incorrect at the time it was made though we aim to reduce the allowed appeal rate by analysing the reasons why appeals are allowed and using this to further improve guidance and training.

Refugees: Children

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help close smuggler routes into the UK after the closure of the Dubs scheme.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Our work to close people smuggling routes to the UK is delivered by the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce. The Taskforce is comprised of officers from the National Crime Agency, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service. It is working closely with law enforcement agencies in 17 source and transit countries to disrupt the organised crime groups that facilitate people smuggling. This work involves intelligence sharing, conducting joint criminal investigations and the provision of capacity building.

Home Office: Equality

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases under the Equality Act 2010 have been brought against her Department by current or former staff since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: We are an inclusive employer and manage diversity and equality through our People Capability strategy. We work in partnership with our senior stakeholders who Champion protected characteristics, generational diversity and social mobility.Table showing number of Employment Tribunal cases brought against the Home Office under the Equality Act 2010 Employment Tribunals from May 2013 - PercentageYear OpenedNo of Cases OpenedPercentage of Employees who brought cases2013290.10%2014350.11%2015280.08%2016290.09%Total1210.09%Between 2010 and 2013 Employment Tribunal cases were managed locally and a central record was not maintained.Case figures include all staff in Home Office who raised Employment Tribunal cases between May 2013 and January 2017 with the Case Claim Type relates to those areas covered by the Equality Act 2010.The number of cases brought against the department does not indicate the number that were successful.

Home Office: Disability

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on the treatment of disabled employees in her Department.

Sarah Newton: The Department engages with wide group of people including “Able” the Home Office Disability Network to encourage representations on disability within the workplace.We use these to influence our Disability Action Plan ensuring that we are an inclusive employer that values diversity and difference.

Asylum

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2017 to Question 63853, what proportion of and how many asylum seekers access (a) mainstream benefits, (b) the labour market and (c) secure accommodation within 28 days of leave being granted.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry but the Home Office does not record this data.

Asylum: Accommodation Centres

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2017 to Question 64009, whether her Department has received representations from providers on the current asylum seeker accommodation system and its effectiveness; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office is committed to ensuring that destitute asylum seekers are accommodated in safe, secure and suitable accommodation whilst their claims are considered.We remain in daily contact with our providers and have worked closely with them to develop improvements to the service over the lifetime of the contract and as part of the recent contract extension. The Department will continue to monitor the providers closely to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the contract and work closely with non-Government Organisations and service users to respond to feedback and continue to improve the system.We have started putting in place new arrangements for when these contracts expire in 2019. This work is at an early stage and we are engaging with a range of stakeholders to consider options for the future arrangements.

Asylum: Accommodation Centres

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2017 to Question 64009, what proportion of and how many asylum seekers have moved from initial accommodation to dispersed accommodation within the 19-day period in each year since 2014.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry but the Home Office does not record this information centrally and it could only be provided at disproportionate cost by examination of individual records.

Refugees: Children

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many local authorities were consulted ahead of the decision to close the Dubs scheme.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government consulted with all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales before agreeing the specified number of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children it would transfer to the UK.

Home Office: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Sarah Newton: As part of the Home Office’s commitment to sustainability, we publish data on the cost of paper, on Page 33 of the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts, a copy of which is available in the House Library, or at the link https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539638/HO_AR_16_gov.pdfInformation on the expenditure on iPads and tablets is not available except at disproportionate cost.

Cybercrime

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2017 to Question 63350, what information her Department holds on the proportion of online fraud and cybercrime that goes unreported.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Home Office does not hold the information on the proportion of online fraud and cybercrime that goes unreported. The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales captures information on the number of fraud and cyber crime incidents experienced by individuals and also collects information on the proportion of these incidents that were reported to the police or Action Fraud. These data can be found on the ONS website (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice#datasets) in the ‘Crime in England and Wales: Experimental tables’ – see Table E7.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to publicise any changes to the residency rights of EU citizens living in the UK; and if she will provide a telephone number for such people to call for such information.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The rights of EU nationals living in the UK remain unchanged while we are a member of the European Union. We are currently considering the various options as to how EU migration might work once we have left, it would be wrong to set out further positions at this stage.

Wales Office

Swansea Bay City Region: Local Growth Deals

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what representations he has received from the Welsh Government on the proposed Swansea Bay City Region deal.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what written correspondence he has had with the Swansea City Region Board in the last 12 months; and if he will place copies of any such correspondence in the Library.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has informed HM Treasury of his decision on the proposed Swansea Bay City Region deal.

Alun Cairns: The UK Government is working constructively with local partners and the Welsh Government towards a city deal for the Swansea Bay City Region. I am determined that we work together to achieve a great deal for the region, which we will announce as soon as we are able. Given the advanced stage of the negotiations on a deal it would not be appropriate for me to release the contents of correspondence with strategic partners.

Football: South Wales

Craig Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of holding (a) the 2017 Champions League Final and (b) similar events on the economy of Cardiff and the surrounding south Wales area.

Alun Cairns: Hosting the final of the world’s biggest annual sporting event will undoubtedly bring a huge economic benefit to the whole of Wales. It is estimated it will bring £45m into the Cardiff economy alone and the eyes of the world will be on Wales with an anticipated global TV audience of around 180 million. That is why the UK Government played a critical part by providing the required guarantees to UEFA.

Brexit: Wales

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he is taking steps to implement the Plaid Cymru-Welsh Government's white paper entitled Securing Wales' Future, published in January 2017.

Alun Cairns: I refer the hon Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon Member for Glasgow North.

Cultural Heritage: Wales

Mrs Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps his Department has taken to support the Wales Week in London initiative.

Alun Cairns: I am delighted that my Department is a founder partner of Wales Week in London and I pay tribute to the leadership shown by founders Dan Langford and Mike Jordan who initiated the plan. The events not only showcase the dynamism of Wales but provide a springboard to international trade, showing the importance of the Union to Wales.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Wales

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the development of rail links between Wales and the High Speed 2 network.

Guto Bebb: HS2 has huge potential to support growth across the UK and into North Wales – it will promote regeneration, boost skills and generate new jobs for people across the region. Passengers travelling from North Wales will also be able to benefit from faster journey times by interchanging with HS2 between Crewe and London.

Females: Wales

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he is taking to promote the role of Welsh women in building a more gender-inclusive society.

Alun Cairns: I would like to pay tribute to the Rt hon Member who was the first female Secretary of State for Wales and will already be aware that the UK Government is fully committed to promoting the role of women. Welsh women from all walks of life, such as Professor Julie Williams, are making a difference.

Tidal Power: Swansea Bay

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on proposals for the creation of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon since the publication of the Hendry Review in January 2017.

Guto Bebb: The Secretary of State and I remain in close contact with Cabinet colleagues on the proposed tidal lagoon at Swansea Bay. The issues considered by the Hendry Review are complex. It is right that we take time to assess the recommendations and to consider the issues which would arise from a broader lagoon programme.

HM Treasury

Government Departments: Copyright

Jim Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding his Department provides for the renewal of Government copyright licences.

Simon Kirby: Government departments buy copyright licences according to their needs from their departmental budgets. This includes any contributions made to shared licensing arrangements across government.

Government Departments: Copyright

Jim Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what role his Department has in ensuring compliance with copyright licensing conditions across Government.

Simon Kirby: Government departments are required to comply with the law including the law of copyright. To this end they enter into licensing arrangements and monitor compliance locally. The Accounting Officer within each department is responsible for ensuring legal compliance.

Tax Avoidance

Richard Fuller: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax avoidance cases HM Revenue and Customs has litigated in each of the last five years; and in how many of these it was successful.

Jane Ellison: The number of tax avoidance litigation cases is published by HM Revenue and Customs in the Tax Assurance Commissioner’s annual report at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-we-resolve-tax-disputes

Treasury: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Simon Kirby: In each of the last 5 years, HM Treasury as spent the following on iPads and tablets 2012 – 2 iPads costing £489 each2015 – 5 Lenovo ThinkPad 10 costing £630 each2016 – 2 iPads costing £390 each2017 – 1 iPad costing £400 In each of the last 5 years, HM Treasury has spent the following on paper 2012/13 - £50,069.052013/14 - £50,645.922014/15 - £70,776.852015/16 - £42,328.022016/17 - £25,117.28 (to date)

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Hilary Benn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will prevent banks introducing charges for the use of ATM machines.

Simon Kirby: The Government believes that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. To this end, the Government is engaging with LINK (the network that runs the ATMS scheme) and its members, including banks and Independent ATM Deployers, to ensure that widespread free access to cash is maintained, and is encouraged to hear that LINK’s members have committed to further work to find a solution to the dispute.The Government is also working closely on the issue with the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), which was established in 2015 to promote competition, innovation and the needs of end users within payment systems. The PSR is in regular contact with LINK, and is monitoring the situation closely, including assessing the potential effect of any developments on the provision of ATMs in the UK and possible impact on the scheme’s user.The PSR has the ability to act if LINK or any of its members act in a way that conflicts with any of its objectives.

Beer: Excise Duties

Graham Evans: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual change in on-trade beer prices in each year since 2007 for the purposes of assessing beer duty.

Jane Ellison: The British Beer and Pub Association have published estimates of the annual change in beer prices in “The story of beer duty: 2008 to 2016”. This can be found at: http://s3.amazonaws.com/bbpa-prod/attachments/documents/uploads/24356/original/BBPA%20Duty%20Impact%20Report%202016.pdf?1477316467

Beer: Excise Duties

Graham Evans: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on jobs and investment in the beer industry of a reduction in beer duty.

Jane Ellison: The Government keeps all taxes under review, including alcohol duties, and is always willing to consider any evidence in relation to alcohol taxation policy. Any changes to beer duty need to take account of a wide range of factors, including the Exchequer impact, the impact on businesses and consumers, and on public health.

Financial Services

Wes Streeting: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury was given responsibility for the financial services industry in relation to exiting the EU.

Mr David Gauke: The Chancellor is responsible for all HM Treasury business relating to EU exit, including financial services. When the Commercial Secretary was appointed he asked her to play a supporting role on that. The Chancellor retains overall responsibility for the issue but all ministers in the Department work closely together where relevant.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Copyright

Jim Dowd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to create a single copyright licensing arrangement across Government.

Jim Dowd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress he is making in renegotiating the agreement with the Copyright Licensing Agency to facilitate the scanning and photocopying of documents by Government Departments where secondary royalties may be payable.

Chris Skidmore: The Cabinet Office currently coordinates the purchase of a cross-Government copyright licence on behalf of Departments and is considering a proposal from the Copyright Licence Agency.

Infant Foods

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on its 2016 recommendation on implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

Ben Gummer: I have had no discussions on this matter. The Department of Health is responsible for the implementation of the Code.

Civil Servants: EU Nationals

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of people employed by the Civil Service by Department are non-UK EU nationals.

Ben Gummer: All Government Departments are bound by EU and UK requirements concerning right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. The recruitment processes of Civil Service organisations are subject to audit by the Civil Service Commissioner. Management of such information is delegated to departments.

Work Experience

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that internships are accessible to people from all backgrounds.

Ben Gummer: The Civil Service offers a range of internship opportunities. A substantial number of these internships are accessed through positive action schemes, permitted by the Equality Act 2010, to alleviate disadvantage experienced by people from certain groups and to improve their representation. The Summer Diversity Internship and Early Diversity Internship Programmes, for example, are targeted at BAME, lower socio-economic and disabled groups because they are currently under-represented in the Fast Stream graduate programme. We will continue to prioritise these under-represented groups and consider such schemes to be appropriate initiatives to help increase awareness of the Civil Service and ultimately lead to increased numbers of successful applications to the Fast Stream. Other internships, not diversity specific, are run but tend to be overseen by specific departments or specialisms, such as the annual FCO internship programme and the Government Economic Service Summer Vacation Placement Scheme. All recruitment for permanent positions conforms to the Civil Service Commission Principles of fair and open selection, based on merit.

Electoral Register: Identity Cards

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2017 to Question 63957, on Electoral register: Northern Ireland, if the Cabinet Office will conduct an impact assessment into the effectiveness of electoral identity cards for use at elections in England, Wales and Scotland.

Chris Skidmore: In its response to Sir Eric Pickles’ review of electoral fraud, the Government outlined its intention to run a number of pilot schemes at local government elections in 2018, to test the impact of voter identification measures on elections in Great Britain. The response sets out the different types of photographic and non-photographic identification that the Government intends to explore in pilot schemes. Given the potentially significant logistical and cost implications, the Government does not consider it feasible to pilot a new electoral identity card (of the kind currently used in Northern Ireland) in 2018. The pilot schemes are part of a comprehensive programme of work that will strengthen electoral integrity, enhance public confidence in our democratic processes, and ensure we can build a democracy that works for everyone.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: USA

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether any officials of his Department had their travel to or from the US affected by the US administration's recent changes to US entry regulations.

Mark Garnier: We are not aware of anyone being affected.

Department for International Trade: Staff

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many of his Department's staff by (a) sector focus and (b) country focus are (i) UK-based and (ii) based overseas.

Mark Garnier: The number of staff employed by the Department for International Trade working on sector related activity either in the UK or within a country overseas is shown in the table below. The department has structured its organisation on a sectorial basis and has people based in in 109 Countries (including the UK) across 13 different sectors.Sector Related ActivityStaff based in the UK389Staff based overseas1250

Furs: Smuggling

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2017 to Question 64007, whether his Department is able to identify domestic cat and dog fur from non-domestic cat and dog fur that enters or is sold in the UK; and whether he plans to introduce regulatory proposals to include non-domestic cat and dog fur currently not covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 1523/2007 after the UK leaves the EU.

Mark Garnier: I refer the hon Member for St Albans to the answer given by my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister of State for International Trade (Greg Hands) on 27 February 2017, UIN: 64023. Answer included below:The import, export and placing on the market of cat and dog fur, and products made from such fur is prohibited under EU legislation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1523/2007). As part of our exit from the EU and through the Great Repeal Bill, these controls will be carried over into UK law.Border Force will act to enforce the legislation if illegal cat and dog fur products are detected during the course of carrying out other customs import and export checks, or following receipt of specific intelligence. In these cases, samples are taken and forensically examined. Consignments are seized where they are confirmed to contain cat or dog fur.

Department for International Trade: ICT

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much his Department spent on (a) iPads and tablets and (b) paper in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade is newly formed and became a legal entity on November 9th 2016. Since this date our Digital and IT teams have not purchased any tablets or iPads for the Department.

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2017 to Question 65736, when he plans to lay the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement before Parliament for scrutiny purposes.

Mark Garnier: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 8 March to the hon. Member for Birmingham Hall Green UIN 66457 & UIN 66429

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has had discussions with the Leader of the House to ensure that the 21-day ratification period for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement takes place during a time in the parliamentary calendar which contains at least one Opposition Day.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has for the House to (a) debate and (b) vote on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement as part of the process of ratification.

Mark Garnier: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of state for International trade (Greg Hands) on the 2 March to rt. hon. Member for Glasgow North UIN 65736.

Department of Health

Hospitals: Lancashire

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been seen at (a) Royal Preston Hospital and (b) Chorley District Hospital by gtd healthcare staff in each month since it was awarded its NHS contract; how many appointments at (i) Royal Preston Hospital and (ii) Chorley District Hospital have been cancelled because doctors employed by gtd healthcare were not available; how many people have been seen during the period of the contract under the visiting scheme for people who call an ambulance but do not need to be taken to hospital, alternative to transfer; and what the cost of the contract for gtd healthcare with the NHS has been to date.

Mr Philip Dunne: Information in respect of the numbers of people seen at Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley District Hospital by GTD healthcare, the number of appointments cancelled because doctors employed by GTD healthcare, and the number of patients seen under the visiting scheme for people who call an ambulance but do not need to be taken to hospital is not held centrally. In respect of GTD Healthcare, the contract is with Chorley and South Ribble Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Greater Preston Clinical Commissioning Group. Information on the Urgent Care Centre contract is available on both the CCG’s websites and can be accessed at the following links:https://www.chorleysouthribbleccg.nhs.uk/contract-awardshttps://www.greaterprestonccg.nhs.uk/contract-awards

Care Homes: Lancashire

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many complaints were made about discharge packages for (a) nursing and residential homes and (b) patients' homes provided by (a) Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, (b) Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, (c) University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust and (d) East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in each month in 2016.

David Mowat: The Department does not collect this data separately, it forms part of a larger subject category and the numbers cannot be individually identified. Data relating to nursing, residential and patients’ homes are a local authority responsibility and not collected centrally.

Hospitals: Parking

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on parking charges for Blue Badge holders in hospital car parks.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department published National Health Service patient, visitor and staff car parking principles on 23 August 2014. These state that concessions, including free or reduced charges or caps, should be available for disabled people, including people with temporary disabilities as well as Blue Badge holders.

Diseases: Drugs

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish details of the process leading to the review by NHS England's Clinical Priorities Advisory Group of commissioning of medicines for rare diseases in 2017-18.

David Mowat: NHS England considers the commissioning of medicines for rare diseases as they would any treatment for any condition. The process for developing clinical policies for treatments is published on the NHS England website:https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2015/06/nhse-respns-publictn-17-06-15.pdf In addition, NHS England recently undertook a consultation on the process for prioritising treatments that required investment, and the response to that consultation is published here:https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2016/06/prioritisation-method-cons-response.pdf A recent consultation exercise has also been undertaken to consider NHS England’s ‘generic policies’ that consider decision making of treatments outside the annual investment prioritisation process. The outcome of that consultation will be published at a later date once the responses have been fully considered.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Tom Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Accessible Information Standard.

David Mowat: NHS England is conducting a post-implementation consultation on the Accessible Information Standard, which all organisations that provide National Health Service care or publically funded social care have been required to follow since 1 August 2016. The consultation will enable NHS England to assess the impact of the Standard and to ensure that it is, and will be, fit for purpose.

Midwives: Insurance

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received as a result of the decision of 13 January 2017 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council on the adequacy of indemnity insurance provided to independent midwives; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: Since the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) decision on the adequacy of indemnity arrangements for a small number of independent midwives who are members of Independent Midwives UK, the Department has received a number of pieces of correspondence from hon. Members and members of the public. The Government supports choice in maternity services, but this has to be a safe choice. It is therefore appropriate that registered midwives are required to have adequate indemnity insurance to cover their scope of practice. Whether or not a midwife’s indemnity cover is appropriate is a decision for the NMC as the independent regulatory body responsible for the regulation of midwives in the United Kingdom.

Williams Syndrome

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS Choices plans to add Williams syndrome to its list of recognised conditions.

David Mowat: NHS Choices is currently being redeveloped and its resources are focussed on transforming the existing site content so that it better meets users’ needs and helps connect people to appropriate healthcare services. This means that the creation of significant new content, including in relation to rarer conditions such as Williams syndrome, will be on hold for the foreseeable future. As part of its transformation programme, NHS Choices is considering whether it might best cater for such conditions by referring users to existing reliable sources that already provide good quality information. In the case of Williams syndrome, this will be sites such as those provided by the National Organization for Rare Disorders and the Williams Syndrome Association.

Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 24 of the document, Children and Young People's Eating Disorder Access and Waits Commissioning Guide, published by NHS England in July 2015, when he expects NHS England to publish the tolerance level for referral to treatment for 2017-18.

Nicola Blackwood: NHS England is not planning this approach, rather NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2017-2019 required each National Health Service clinical commissioning group (CCG) to set out its own trajectory to meet the eating disorder standard by 2020. All CCG plans for 2017-19, submitted to NHS England by 23 December 2016, included local stated trajectories for meeting the standard by 2020.

Prescriptions

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how clinical commissioning groups have issued guidance to GPs on reducing the number of prescriptions for medicines which could be obtained over the counter.

David Mowat: This information is not collected centrally.

Social Services: Expenditure

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of national gross domestic product was spent on social care in each year since 2010; and where the UK ranked among other countries in the EU in this regard in each such year.

David Mowat: Public spending on adult social care as proportion of gross domestic product spent was approximately 1.1% in 2010/11, and approximately 1% for each year between 2011/12 and 2015/16.The attached table sets out the relevant internationally comparable data on expenditure published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Social care is defined in different ways in different countries. The OECD has therefore developed a comparable measure of “long-term care,” which includes some elements the Department would classify as health care and therefore the OECD estimate is slightly different from the above. The OECD’s long-term care data is only available for the United Kingdom in 2013 and 2014.



PQ66474 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 151.5 KB)

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the recovery rate has been for patients referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme for patients receiving (a) only high intensity treatment, (b) only low intensity treatment and (c) both high and low intensity therapy in each of the last six years.

Nicola Blackwood: The data collected by NHS Digital is not reported in this way. The number of people who recovered by individual therapy type provided, and whether that therapy type was low intensity or high intensity, is available from 2015/16 and can be found in Table 7d at the following link:http://content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB22110 The total aggregate is not reported. Recovery rates by therapy type were not reported prior to 2015/16.

Mental Health Services: Expenditure

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much and what percentage of Public Health England's budget was spent on mental health in each year since 2013.

Nicola Blackwood: Public Health England (PHE) spends significant sums on health improvement all of which will have an impact on public mental health. It is therefore not possible to distinguish mental from physical health spend in all cases. In addition, PHE pays to local authorities a ring fenced grant (£3.3 billion in 2016/17) for the purpose of carrying out their public health responsibilities. These will also include significant health improvement work, and a proportion of this money will be spent specifically on public mental health. This spend will be reported for the first time for the 2016/17 financial year. Local authorities reported that they planned to spend £47 million on public mental health in 2016/17 (1.4% of the grant). Local authority planned spend data for 2017/18 is reported here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing#2016-to-2017

Mental Health Services: Mothers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the press release of 11 January 2016, Prime Minister pledges a revolution in mental health treatment, how much of the £290 million pledged to provide specialist care to mothers before and after having their babies has been spent to date; and on which services has such funding been spent.

Nicola Blackwood: In January 2016 the Government set out that an additional £290 million will be made available over the next five years to invest in specialist perinatal mental health services. This builds on the initial investment announced at the spring 2015 Budget, making a total investment from 2015/16 to 2020/21 of £365 million.Planned spend for 2016/17 is £15 million and this is being achieved through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services including investment in workforce development and developing clinical leadership capacity, enhanced specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health service provision, strengthening Perinatal Mental Health networks across the country to drive forward change and building capacity in Mother and Baby units. However actual spend will not be available before the end of the financial year.

Personality Disorders

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were treated for personality disorders in each clinical commissioning group area in each of the last six years.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Care Homes: Ilford North

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of care homes in Ilford North constituency were rated (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) requires improvement and (d) inadequate in the most recent ratings exercise.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of GPs in Ilford North constituency were rated (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) requires improvement and (d) inadequate in each year since 2009-10.

David Mowat: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has advised the following information:  Care home1 locations in Ilford North Parliamentary Constituency latest overall ratings as at 6 March 2017 Number of Rated Care Homes, by Status and Latest Overall RatingNumber of Rated Care Homes, TotalPercentage of Rated Care Homes, by Status and Latest Overall RatingPercentage of Rated Care Homes, TotalLatest Overall RatingActiveInactive-DeregActiveInactive-DeregGood1111291.7%100.0%92.3%Requires improvement1 18.3%0.0%7.7%Total Care Homes With Overall Published Rating12113100.0%100.0%100.0%1 Care homes are defined as locations with one or both of the following service types: care home service with nursing; care home service without nursing. The CQC has been inspecting and rating general practitioner (GP) locations under its new approach since 1 April 2014. The following table shows how many and what proportion of GP locations in Ilford North have been rated and what the most recent ratings are as at 6 March 2017. Table 3 shows how many and what proportion of GP locations in Ilford North had been rated and what the ratings were as at 31 March 2016. GP Practice locations in Ilford North Parliamentary Constituency latest overall ratings as at 6 March 2017 Number of Rated GP Practice Locations, by Status and Latest Overall RatingNumber of Rated GP Practice Locations, TotalPercentage of Rated GP Locations, by Status and Latest Overall RatingPercentage of Rated GP Locations, TotalLatest Overall RatingActiveInactive-DeregActiveInactive-DeregGood6 675.0% 66.7%Requires improvement21325.0%100.0%33.3%Total GP Practices With Overall Published Rating819100.0%100.0%100.0% GP Practice locations in Ilford North Parliamentary Constituency latest overall ratings as at 31 March 2016 Number of Rated GP Practice Locations, by Status and Latest Overall RatingNumber of Rated GP Practice Locations, TotalPercentage of Rated GP Practice Locations, by Status and Latest Overall RatingPercentage of Rated GP Locations, TotalLatest Overall RatingActiveInactive-DeregActiveInactive-DeregRequires improvement112100.0%100.0%100.0% Note: The Newham CCG area was one of the last areas to be inspected and most inspections were completed in 2016.

Health Services: Internet

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of regulation for online doctor services.

Nicola Blackwood: Online medical services in England are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and to meet a set of registration requirements around safety and quality and are further regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for prescribing purposes. The MHRA is responsible for the regulation of all medicines available in the United Kingdom. There are legal controls on the retail sale, supply and advertising of medicines which are set out in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The Department monitors the CQC’s financial and operational performance and risks at a general and strategic level through regular formal accountability meetings.

Surrogate Motherhood: Lone Parents

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39606, on surrogacy law and lone parents, what progress he has made on plans to bring forward legislative proposals to give single parents with children born through surrogacy the same rights as couples.

Nicola Blackwood: The Government is developing plans to introduce a Remedial Order to Parliament to address the incompatibility in the Human Fertility and Embryology Act. The Remedial Order would allow single people to apply for parental orders, which transfers legal parenthood in surrogacy arrangements.